Ukrainian president Petro Poroshenko asked Donald
Trump for support against "Russian aggression" during a congratulatory
telephone conversation with the US president-elect on Tuesday.
Trump's
shock election victory has been met with trepidation in Kiev because of
the outspoken reality TV star's praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, and his apparent indifference to the Western coalition against Moscow.
The
billionaire businessman suggested earlier this year the US could accept
Russia's annexation of Crimea if it led to improved relations between
the two nations, which are bitterly at odds over Syria.
Poroshenko congratulated Trump on his victory and said he wished "to work together with his administration to further strengthen the strategic partnership between Ukraine and the United States", according to a statement by the Ukrainian presidency.
He also "underlined
the necessity of strong support from Washington in the fight against
Russian aggression and the implementation of crucial reforms" in Ukraine.
The two men agreed to organise "a bilateral meeting", the statement said, without giving further details.
The
US election outcome had sparked fears in the ex-Soviet republic after
Trump was accused several times by his Democratic presidential rival
Hillary Clinton of being Putin's "puppet".
Earlier this week, Poroshenko said he had "no doubt" that Trump would refuse to recognise Russia's annexation of Crimea.
Putin
and Trump spoke on the phone on Monday evening for the first time since
the US vote, agreeing on the need to normalise ties between Washington
and Moscow, the Kremlin said.
After
Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula in March 2014, which
saw US-Russia relations dip to their worst since the Cold War,
Washington imposed heavy economic sanctions on Russia.
Russia also has been accused by Washington of supporting pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, which the Kremlin denies.
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